The Joy of Membership Podcast

Have you ever thought about the role that humor might play in your organization’s culture - perhaps in how you relate to members of your team - or how you approach member services? Combining 8 years of comedy with 6 years of public speaking, David Horning is on a mission to help teams transform their cultures to better adapt to a changing world.  David believes that humor is a great tool to reliev...

I have to admit that I was a bit of a fangirl on this week’s episode and you will no doubt pick up on that as you listen. If you were to ask me who the #1 person is that I listen to in order to improve my own skills around selling, it’s this week’s guest, Nikki Rausch. I’ve listened to every podcast episode, I’ve read her books, and I’m a member of her membership program, The Sales Maven Society....

When I was a kid, riding my bicycle up and down my block was one of my favorite things to do. We had a little creek at the end of the street that served as a gathering spot for all of the neighborhood kids… I guess it was a little like gathering around the water cooler that adults do in the workplace. From our bikes, we’d swap stories, make up games, and just be kids. I haven’t really thought much...

Did you know that May 7th-16th is National Public Gardens Week?  I didn’t until recently. This week’s podcast guest knew, of course. Joan Lucchese is the Executive Director of The Gardens at Heather Farm, a nonprofit organization that operates a free public garden, education center, and special event venue on six picturesque acres in Walnut Creek, CA. Joan has been supporting non-profit missions f...

This week’s guest will always hold a very special place in my heart not only because she’s just a true gem of a human being, but also because her organization, The Foot and Nail Institute, was the very first organization to go live on the JourneyCARE platform.  As a nurse, Heather has always had an affection for helping others. She combined her passion for nursing to help the aging population with...

On this week’s show, host Joy Duling rides solo, sharing her own thoughts on member engagement and the important difference between trying to attract engagement and actually being engaged with members.  It may sound like nuance or semantics, but it’s not! **** ABOUT YOUR HOST Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership. Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associat...

This week’s guest is Jamie Beaulieu.  Jamie is a strategic association leader with over 20 years of experience, providing her with a strong background in membership relations, community building, and program development. Jamie considers herself at the intersection of education and member value, and has a passion for helping to propel industries and the people within. As such, she has a track recor...

Irene van der Zande is back again on this week’s show. You may remember Irene from a conversation that we had here on the podcast back in January. Irene is the Executive Director and Founder of Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International, a global nonprofit leader that has served over 6 million people of different ages, abilities, cultures, and beliefs, identities through providing safety training...

Emily Taylor is Principal of teenyBIG… isn’t that a great company name?  At teenyBIG, she coaches nonprofits around meaningful engagement of their audience. She brings her experience with both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds to create a process that really digs into a user’s experience and perspective so that lackluster followers can transform into passionate supporters. You know that engageme...

Do you ever watch an episode of Shark Tank and wonder how the heck someone who seems just like a regular person came up with some random idea for a product, and then was able to figure out how to do all the things that are necessary to get the thing designed, to navigate patents, to find manufacturers, etc?  I definitely do!  If that person was lucky, they know someone like this week’s guest.  Bri...

This week, I’d like to introduce you to a new friend of mine, Alyson Lex.  Alyson is a conversion copywriter which basically means that she writes words that are intended to sell.  She’s been doing this sort of copywriting for more than 13 years. From landing pages, to sales pages, to emails, to direct mail, Alyson has done it all… and lots of it. But the thing that I like most about Alyson is tha...

On the show this week, I’m chatting with Cecilia Sepp from Rogue Tulips Nonprofit Consulting & Association Management Services.  Cecilia has spent her entire career in the nonprofit arena - in association staff positions, as a high-level consultant, and volunteer. If you are currently working with an organization that has chapters, or perhaps you lead a chapter, you’re going to find this conve...

Jess Cooper is a nonprofit Executive Director turned Nonprofit Health Advocate. Jess has worked for and with nonprofits from health-related organizations to sports organizations. As the former Executive Director of Georgia Swimming, Jess earned the inaugural USA Swimming #SwimBiz Marketing LSC of the Year Award in 2018. Most recently, Jess worked with USA Swimming to assist its 59 regional governi...

Most of the time on this program, you’ve probably noticed that my guests are either someone who LEADS a membership…or someone who has a business or consulting practice that SUPPORTS membership leaders.  I love it when I have a chance to talk with someone who actually does both because that’s actually what I did for more than a decade - I was the full-time Executive Director for a membership-based...

Sheila Johnston spends her day managing the membership, communication, and day-to-day administration of the California Pharmacists Association.  She attributes the success that she’s experienced in her 19-year career working in the industry to the extra effort that she places on understanding the people her organization serves, so that what she produces in marketing can replicate their voices. In...

Abhay Khurana is a marketing professional, podcast host, and father of five. As the Chief Marketing Officer of Feathr – a marketing technology company that specializes in working with associations – he leads the content, creative, partnerships, and demand generation functions of Feathr's business. I started seeing Feathr pop up more over the past year in the discussion forums for the American...

This week’s guest is one of my long-time clients, Samantha Olds Frey from the Illinois Association of Medicaid Health Plans.  As CEO of IAMHP, Samantha is a staunch advocate for her members. She is responsible for coordinating legislative strategies, testifying before legislative committees, and working closely with state agency administrators to formulate and implement policies that positively im...

I’m excited today to be able to share the third piece of our three-part series focusing on Board Development. If you’ve joined us for the previous episodes, you’ll know that this is a special collaboration that I’m producing with Sean Kosofsky who is commonly known as “The Nonprofit Fixer.” Like last week, you’re getting TWO interviews in this episode. Both organizations are clients of Sean’s that...

This episode is the second in a collaborative series that I’m doing with Sean Kosofsky, known as the Nonprofit Fixer.  We’re focused in on Board Development in preparation for a webinar that we’ll be co-hosting on the 29th of January. This week, you’re going to hear from two nonprofit leaders who have deliberately invested time into board development. Both are clients of Sean and they agreed to sh...

Sean Kosofsky is the NonProfit Fixer! He has worked in nonprofits for 28 years, including as executive director for five organizations. He has worked in policy, communications, grassroots advocacy, direct service, development, management and served on numerous boards. He has raised millions of dollars for causes, candidates and campaigns. His work has appeared in news stories around the world, and...

This week, I’m taking a quick pause in the information-packed interviews for a New Year’s wish and some exciting happenings coming soon to the podcast as well as The Joy of Membership resources! Take a listen if you’re excited about impactful free training and new software specifically designed for membership organizations. Happy New Year, and here’s to a less surprising 2021! Connect with Joy: jo...

One of the things that I love about my job is the wide variety of organizations that I have the opportunity to work with and that I get to learn something new about their industries. This week, we’re hearing from Jo McCutcheon who is the Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Archivists. Jo has been with her association for a few years now, since 2017, and she was a perfect person to ta...

Michele Clancy is Marketing & Operations Manager at the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units.  What is an Association of Intermediate Units?  Michele will explain this week’s episode.  She’ll also share how the work that she’s done to upgrade the technology systems that PAIU uses has helped the association better serve members. This episode is the second in the special 4-part content...

On this week’s podcast, I’m introducing you to Alex Sirota from NewPath Consulting. One of the reasons why I like Alex so much is that, while he’s definitely a techy guy, he clearly tries to understand the needs of an organization and its members in order to be intentional about how tech can support those needs. It’s never technology just for technology’s sake. Alex has a BSc in computer science f...

You are going to love this week’s guest. Julia Campbell is a non-profit consultant and speaker who focuses on digital storytelling, social media marketing, and online fundraising. She is the author of two books, a mom of two kids, and a returned Peace Corps volunteer. You’ll hear the passion she holds around getting organizations and change-makers to stop spinning their wheels and instead get REAL...